Land Transportation Office (LTO) Chief Edgar Galvante said out of nine motor vehicle inspection centers (MVICs) in the country, the one in Alaminos, Laguna is the only one that works, albeit partially.

Galvante said this during a public hearing on road safety headed by the House Committee on Transportation in June.

STATEMENT

“On the process of motor vehicle inspection, Galvante admitted there is much to be desired, because out of so many motor vehicle inspection systems (MVIS) available, only one MVIS is presently working, and only partially, at that.

‘But we are in the process of procuring mobile MVIS, which will then be distributed to different regions,’ he said.

For his part, Rep. Rozanno Rufino Biazon (Lone District, Muntinlupa City) asked Galvante how the inspection of motor vehicles could possibly be done with only one MVIS functioning, and which is located in faraway Alaminos, Laguna.

Galvante replied that inspection of motor vehicles is presently being done manually by evaluators.”

The North MVIC located inside the main office of LTO in Quezon City on the other hand only has a functioning emission tester.

In 2006, the Department of Transportation and Communication allotted over P332 million to rehabilitate existing MVICs and build additional ones. The funds were sourced from the Special Vehicle Pollution Control Fund. This is one of four special funds under the Motor Vehicles Users Charge, also known as the road tax.

BACKSTORY

LTO rules mandate that several apparatus must be used to evaluate the different parts of a vehicle to test if it’s safe to run on Philippine roads.

To test brake efficiency, steel rollers are used to compute the reaction time of a vehicle’s brakes. Light testers measure the brightness and height of the hazard, brake and headlights.

A sonometer analyzes the sound level of a vehicle’s horn to determine if it is within the prescribed decibel. The undercarriage is tested by shaking the vehicle through a machine. A weighing scale records the vehicle’s mass.

Vehicles are “graded” at every test to determine its roadworthiness. The inspector reviews 63 items indicated in the motor vehicle inspection report. If a vehicle does not pass even one of the seven tests or if there’s a problem with just one part, the LTO will give it a failing mark.

The report is to be encoded and stored in LTO’s database for easy monitoring. The computer interconnectivity system for the MVIS has also stopped working.